I will always protect you
by Sam-san91
Summary: This is a Careese story. Joss Carter is living a dangerous life as a NYPD detective. She used to deal with this on her own but she has some backup now. Rated T for now, may change later for violence. It's a mix of Hurt/Comfort, Romance and Drama. My first fanfiction, hope you like it.
1. A day off

My first fanfiction ever, not my native language.

There definitely will be some mistakes, I hope you can still enjoy the story!

Summary: This is a Careese story. Joss Carter is living a dangerous life as a NYPD detective. She used to deal with this on her own but she has some backup now.

Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Romance

Characters: John Reese and Joss Carter mainly, but of course our other friends will make an appearance.

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, none of this belongs to me, neither POI, nor the characters, and so on…

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><p><strong>1 - A day off<strong>

_"Good morning Detective"_

She sighed. This was her first day off for a couple of months and now _he_ calls her at 8am!

Muttering a curse she promised herself if this wasn't very, _very_ urgent she would tell him pretty detailed what she was going to do with him the next time they saw each other.

"You better have a damn good reason to wake me up this early John..."

His lips curled into a small smile. He knew she's a late riser. A little bit of guilt crossed his mind but he shook it off immediately as he thought of her reaction to his surprise.

_"Not a morning person, huh? I promise you won't be mad anymore within an hour if you get out of bed now."_

She was torn between just wanting to sleep and being curious about how he was trying to keep his promise. There was something about him that make her obey to everyone of his wishes without her even noticing it.

"I know you tend to keep your promises. And I'm curious now. What's up?"

He got her. He knew exactly how to push her buttons. Grinning he announced her his plans for the early wakeup.

_"Well, actually I just wanted to ask you if you like to have breakfast with me?__"_

To say she was shocked would be an understatement, a huge understatement. Was he really trying to tell her he woke her up on her free day at 8am just to have _breakfast_ with her? She realized her mouth was wide open now, so she shut it fast. His next words didn't make her situation any better.

_"__… __I__'__m a pretty good chef too.__"_

It wasn't until then that she smelled something, something like eggs and … was that bacon? She disconnected the call and rose up from her bed, suddenly very awake.

Taylor should be in school already and his cooking skills were equally miserable as hers. Joss put on some jeans and a shirt which was lying around. After she cleaned herself up a little bit in the bathroom she opened the door of her bedroom. Slowly walking down the hall to the kitchen, the smell got more intense. Just as she was about to sneak around the corner of the kitchen door she heard his voice which made her heart jump for a second.

"I didn't exactly know what you like for breakfast since you rarely eat anything in the morning so I just made some of everything."

There he was, with a smirk on his face and sparkling blue eyes. His dark suit jacket off, the sleeves of his white shirt were rolled up while the first few buttons of it were open. John Reese was definitely a gorgeous looking man. He knew it, she knew it and he knew she knows it too. Which didn't make things any easier.

She took a look around, there were plates with food on it all over her dining table. Scrambled eggs, bacon, pancakes, toast, meat, cheese, yogurt and even fresh fruit. She took a step to the side to take a look behind Reese at her kitchens work surface. Everything was looking just the way she left it yesterday, maybe even cleaner.

No, she really couldn't be mad for him any longer. Damn this man for making her feel this way. So she rose a eye brow at him. "You really gotta need to learn some things about the privacy of people, you know? Sneaking inside a detective's house?"

"To be honest, Taylor let me in. Seems like he thought, that you could need a nice breakfast, too. He's a smart kid." he tried to explain her, thinking of their small conversation at the door earlier.

"Then let's take a seat before everything's cold." she suggested, peering at the table. Suddenly her stomach decided to speak for itself and made a loud noise.

John smiled and went over to pull out a chair for her. Joss sat down, a pot of coffee right in front of her. Tasting it she couldn't refuse a smile. Cream, no sugar, just as she liked it. He looked way to confident about her reaction.

"So you do have a day off, too? Or to what do I owe the honor of getting this?"

He watched her as she grabbed a toast and started putting a spoons of the scrambled eggs and a few slices of bacon upon her plate. So his guess of her favorite would've been correct. Regarding the fruits… well, his mind was already forming another idea of using them. He quickly dismissed the thoughts as she was staring him already, waiting for an answer.

"As you should know by now, I never have a planned day off. Just wrapped up a recent number early this morning and thought you might appreciate being woken up like this. Am I being forgiven?" he said with a low voice that made her heart melt right away.

"Just stop doing this puppy dog eye thing right now! That's unfair! You couldn't just wait another two hours, could you?" she pleaded, then tasted the eggs together with some bacon. "Mhhhm, I can't remember the last time I got such a good breakfast being cooked for me."

He gave her a surprised look. "Not even on mother's day from your son?"

"That wouldn't end well, most likely with the kitchen being on fire, or worse." She laughed at that thought and John couldn't help himself but to join her, she had such an infectious laughter.

Those were the moments that kept him alive, being able to freely laugh with such a wonderful person, such a beautiful woman. Back at the time before they met he thought he would and also should never be happy again. But now with her in his life, he slowly realized people can change themselves and become a better person.

"Okay, so I guess I'll have to do this more often from now on." John said, as both of them were able to calm themselves down. She gave him a happy look. "All right, this way you can make up for all the times of me saving your ass!"

"It's a deal then!" They grinned at each other. "I just want you to know that you're not alone anymore, Carter. There are people who care for you." He said giving her a warm smile.

"I know. And I want to thank you for that." She whispered looking directly into his eyes. Those baby blue eyes she could get lost in forever…

The silence was broken as John suddenly stood up and tapped his ear piece.

"Finch?" he answered the silent phone call while walking around. "Yes, Mr. Bell was taken care of. He won't be threatened again." Carter gave him a look which said 'I don't want to know about this!' "Okay, I'll be there in twenty minutes."

"Another person to protect?" she asked after clearing her throat.

"I don't know yet, gotta go to meet Finch. I hope you will enjoy the rest of your breakfast, Detective." He smirked at number of full plates on the table.

"So you're just going to let me sitting here all by myself with this massive amount of gorgeous food? I think there should be some law against making a woman have to eat all of this." She teased him. "Just go, I don't wanna be responsible for letting Finch wait."

With a last smile he grabbed his jacket and went out of the door.

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><p>I hope you liked it so far.<p>

A review would be nice :)


	2. The new number

Okay, since I got so much positive feedback (thank you so much for this!) I'm moving on to the next chapter.

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><p><strong>2<strong>** - The new number**

John still had a small smile on his lips as he left Carter's apartment. Within his imagination, a day couldn't start any better. The New York streets were busy as always but that's the way he liked it. If everyone was occupied with their own problems he could easily wander around unnoticed.

While driving over to the library he just stopped to get their usual cups of Sencha green tea, coffee and a box of doughnuts. He wasn't about to let this day become anything other than great just because Finch didn't drink enough of his favorite tea.

As he entered the doors of their headquarter he could already hear Harold's typing. Bear was greeting him as soon as he made a step in. The Belgian Malinois was alway happy to see his master. After he was petted by Reese he walked back to his bed wagging its tail.

It seemed like this would become a usual working day for John. He just hoped he could wrap this case up before tomorrow morning since he was eager to repeat this breakfast as often as possible.

"Good morning Finch" he greeted his partner who looked up for a second before continuing his typing "Good morning to you too, Mr. Reese. Did Detective Carter appreciate your cooking skills?"

John was already used to the fact that Finch seemed to know everything so it didn't bother him anymore. It didn't mean he had to answer those questions. "Do we have a new number?"

"Yes, we do. But you are not going to like this case." Finch said with a worried look on his face. Reese raised an eyebrow on him. A minute ago his was convinced this would be a good day but with Finch looking the way he did 'not like' will be an understatement. He circled the table after putting their breakfast on it.

This couldn't be real. The picture of a Detective Jocelyn Carter dressed in a police uniform stared up at him. He'd hoped this would never happen again and was even tempted to ask Finch if this might be a mistake. But it would be useless, he certainly checked it already. "Damn it…"

After a few minutes in which each of them was lost in their own thoughts, they had to get started about listing some possible perps.

"Well, there would be the usual suspects, HR, Elias and about a few hundreds of people she put in jail." John sighed. 'Damn this girl for being this good at her job.'

"The first question to answer would be if you intend to tell her she's in imminent danger. The last time it helped because she was wearing her bulletproof vest as her CI chose to deceive her." Finch remembered him of the one picture he was still trying to get out of his system. Joss laying there in the alley and those awful long seconds until he made sure she was going to be okay.

"Yeah, but if I tell her she's not going to stop telling me she can handle this on her own. Then I would be forced to observe without her seeing me which will make it a lot more difficult. I don't want to take any chances" John growled. He didn't want to lie to her, but in order to protect her he would do anything. Even though he knew she was going to be mad at him later.

"Then what are you planning to do exactly?" Harold asked without judging his decision.

"I'm just going to be by her side as much as possible and try to figure out who's trying to kill her this time. Somebody who has been planning it to be precisely." John answered. 'At least this whole mess has one good side.' Being about her most of the time was like a wish become true.

"You guy need some help with it?" Both men jumped at the sound of the former assassin Sameen Shaw who was leaning at the doorframe. Reese was surprised he didn't noticed her arriving, she was just as sneaky as him. He had to pull himself together to be more alert of his surroundings and not let his thoughts slip too much over to a certain detective.

"Indeed, Ms. Shaw, I think we could use your support for this case." Finch nodded. "Our mutual friend, Detective Carter, did come up as a possible target by the Machine. We agreed not to tell her this fact because she would want to handle it by herself otherwise."

"I think she's a big girl, Finch, as a detective she's used to this. But I'll play along." Shaw shrugged and spotted the box with doughnuts. "Since John's going to be around her all the time what's my job?" she asked grabbing one with chocolate on it.

"You could take a look at the suspects we identify or take turns with Mr. Reese."

"No Finch, I guess Carter would discover we're protecting her if Shaw turns up at her steps asking for a girls' night watching a tearjerker or to go shopping shoes with her." John returned dryly. "You better go with the first option. I'll organize some more eyes and ears." Pressing quick dial on his cell phone he just had to wait a few seconds.

"Hello Lionel" he said in a low voice. "I've got some work for you to do."

"_It's not like I just hang around and wait for you to call me, you know? I actually do have a full time job."_

"Stop complaining Fusco, I know it does help your career that I drop a little present here and there. I need you to stay close to Carter, according to our source someone's planning to harm her."

"_You mean like the last time? Oh boy, I can ask her if she got any threatening letters lately. I mean except from the usual stack of them."_

"NO! Don't you dare to drop a single word about this conversation to her. It will only make things a lot more difficult. Try telling her there's a new directive for detectives to always wear a bulletproof vest, I guess Finch can help you out on this."

"_You want me to lie to her? She's going to rip my head of as soon as she finds out!"_

"If you keep talking she might won't be able to do this anymore! We need you to keep an eye on her while she's at work. I hope you do this without me reminding you anyway so you're not really lying to her. Call me if you notice something wrong with her or you got a suspect for us." he said before disconnecting the call.

"All detectives at the NYPD just received an email with an order to wear they vest at anytime during work hours." Finch looked up at Reese who smiled in return. "Thank you, Finch."

"I will also try to search through Detective Carter's recent cases and see if I can find anything suspicious in there. Meanwhile I will write a code who will give us a list of all persons which she arrested, are free now and still reside in New York City." He said while rather hectically typing at the keyboard. Reese was really thankful for the fact that they didn't even need to speak in order to work perfectly together. Especially this time.

John breathed deeply as he dialed her number. "Hello Detective" he said in a low voice. "I was just wondering if you have any plans for your free day?"

"_John? Please, can't you call Fusco for doing a stakeout or whatever you're up to? I just want to enjoy this day without breaking the laws."_

"I don't think I want to have Fusco as company for a walk in the park with Bear. This could be easily misunderstood."

"_Why not? You're a cute couple."_

"Carter…" John growled as she explode with laughter.

"_Okay, okay. Just a walk in the park you say? I'm in then."_

He could hear her still smiling even over the phone. "I'll pick you up from home, see you"

Being relieved he disconnected the call and noticed Bear in front of him. His leash between the teeth the dog was hopefully looking up at him, wagging its tail.

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><p>That's it, the second chapter is done. Please let me know if you liked it or not :-)<p> 


	3. Walk and talk

Here goes the next chapter… Sorry it took a little bit longer this time.

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><p><strong>3 - Walk and talk<strong>

She just finished cleaning up the last plates of her rich breakfast as she hear a knock at her front door. He's been fast, their phone call was only a few minutes ago. The early interruption of their conversation this morning was still annoying her. She enjoyed being together with John without hunting someone down or protecting an innocent. In those times, they weren't Carter and Reese. Just John and Joss, two people who liked and respected each other. She wondered if there ever could be more between them than a close friendship. She wouldn't mind taking their relationship a step further even if the future would hold many difficulties for them. A detective and a vigilante, this sounded more like from a cliché romance novel.

A second knock at the door sent her thoughts back to the present. 'John's probably going to break the door if he thinks something's wrong.' Wanting to keep her door intact she yelled "I'm coming!" Grabbing her jacket on the way she rushed over.

"Hello John" she said after opening the door. Looking down she noticed Bear waiting next to his master. "Hi Bear!" Joss kneeled down to scratch him between the ears. The dog seemed to be happy to meet the friend of "his human". Wagging its tail he licked right across her face. "Ugh! Bear!" John escaped a small laughter as he saw her grimace. She stood up, signed him to wait by using her hand and went straight towards her bathroom to clean herself up.

In the meantime John looked down to Bear who made a very innocent face back at him. "Bear, you can't just lick over a girls face if you like her" he whispered to the dog. "Okay, maybe you can, but this one belongs to me, you understand?"

Carter came back to the front door that moment. "I'm ready, let's go!" They started walking down the streets in the direction of the Washington Square Park.

"So, what did Finch want this morning?"

"Oh, he just wanted to talk about our last case and make sure the victim is safe now."

"Do you mind sharing it with me? Since I'm not working today I won't trip over a dead body or a bunch of bad guys kneecapped and cuffed together." She glanced at him sideways.

"You always sound like those are bad things. Our jobs aren't so different. Both of us catch the criminals and stop them from harming innocent people."

"Yeah, but our ways to do this are different. I need to follow some rules, John. Those were made for a good reason."

"You know I always try not to kill anybody until I have no other choice, don't you?" John looked at Joss with a serious look on his face. She knew he needed her to confirm that she trusted him and believed in what he did.

"I know you do now, John. But what about Peter Arndt?" she felt him stiffen immediately. Joss knew she hit a soft spot, but since her trip to New Rochelle she wanted to ask him for his reasons. She could already imagine those but her gut kept telling her there is something she didn't know. Something, that made John who he is today.

"How do you… What do you know about Arndt?" he was clearly caught completely off guard.

"I accompanied Donnelly as he went to follow a lead of you in New Rochelle when I met the parents of Arndt's wife." She sighed as he looked straight ahead not wanting their eyes to meet. "She told me about Jessica's former boyfriend, an army soldier who left her after 9/11. Going through her stuff I found a picture of you two."

"I understand…" John said with low-voiced. After a few seconds Joss realized she won't get another answer.

"But I don't, John." She stated firmly. "You know I won't judge you for this. Hell, I know he was an asshole who only hurt people who were weaker then him. I saw the radiographs which showed some old fractures. I just want to make sure you did it for the right reasons. Please, John, let be a part of your life. You told me this morning I'm not alone anymore, so are you!"

"Joss, I… that was a long time ago." He finally looked at her and she was shocked at the amount of hurt in those deep blue eyes. She didn't say anything so he continued. "She called me the night she died. I promised her to come back to her but the CIA had other plans with me. After I finally made my way home I was told that… she died in a car accident. I visited her house and found a videotape of their wedding. The way she looked… he hurt her, that bastard hurt her and I wasn't there for her. I had to make sure he wouldn't be able to hurt anyone else ever again."

They walked in silence for a few minutes, each of them focused on their own thoughts. Joss already assumed what he told her but never found any evidence that would pass at court. At first she was angry of John for not letting this handle the local authorities. But after all… It might be better this way.

"Thank you." Carter said and stopped walking. He looked at her in surprise "For what?"

"For sharing this with me, I know this isn't easy for you. I'm always here for you, if you want to talk about something, John. I hope you know that." He smiled sadly at her. "I know. I'm not used to people caring for me."

They continued their walk and Carter's phone rang. Suspiciously she checked the caller ID and answered the call with an irritated look. "Taylor? What's wrong?" Her face lit up as she listened to her son. "Wait, wait, keep it slow. I can't understand a word you're saying." A few minutes of listening later she smiled happily. "That's great! I'm really happy for you! When does it start? Do we have to buy you a few things first?" … "Oh, okay." … "No, no, it's all right. Have fun and be careful! I love you, bye!"

Joss disconnected the call and looked sadly at John who watched her questioningly. "That was Taylor, a talent scout saw him playing basketball yesterday and invited him to a training camp for a week. He's been already at home packing things up since they're leaving in half an hour." She explained to him "I'm happy for him but I wish I had a chance to say goodbye face to face."

John smiled at her "He's growing up fast, you did a good job raising him."

"He's still my little boy, I don't think that will ever change."

They already walked a round in the park without realizing it. Bear sensed his companions needed to talk without him interfering, so he just tagged along.

"So, what other plans do you have for your free day, Carter?" John asked her, he almost forgot he initially was here to protect her. Being in her surroundings had this effect on him lately.

"Oh, I don't know yet, wasn't prepared to be woken up this early." She yawned. "Maybe I'll take a short nap and tidy up the house. Since Taylor is out for a week, there might be a chance it'll be persistent for more than 4 hours. At least until a certain someone decides to cook breakfast for a whole company, again."

"Hey, I cleaned everything after cooking!" he pouted. "You're still mad at me for waking you up?"

She grinned at him "Like I could be mad at you for more than a few minutes… But you didn't think about the dishes you used, did you?"

At least he was contrite about it. "Sorry, I didn't plan on Finch calling me over so soon." "Well, you can try again next time." She smiled warmly. John smiled back at her. "I'd love to"

They slowly made their way back to Carter's apartment talking about old cases of both of them.

"I want to thank you for asking me to come with you, John. I really enjoyed the walk with you and Bear." Joss said and petted the dog, not kneeling down this time. "The pleasure is all mine, Detective. I really hope we can repeat this sometime."

She smiled and turned to open up her front door, before stepping inside she looked back and saw him still standing there.

—

John waited and first started walking to the library as her door closed safely. Scanning his surroundings he recognized a black SUV which parked at the apartment as they left for the walk and he also saw it as they arrived at the park.

Fetching his phone he dialed his partner. "Finch? I need you to check a license plate number. DCF 5529. The car has been tailing us all day and is parked in front of Carter's home now. Can you call Shaw and get her to watch the street for an hour? I need to prepare for observation."

"_Of course, Mr. Reese. As soon as you'll arrive at the library with Bear I have something interesting to show you."_

"Oh, and Finch? Thank you for getting Taylor out of danger."

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><p>We'll get a little bit closer to the perps…<p>

Hope you liked this chapter, please leave a review :-)


	4. Busted!

Here goes the next chapter, thank you all very much for the reviews. I enjoy them so much :-)

And a happy new year to all of you guys!

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><p><strong>4 - Busted!<strong>

He's been standing there for about four hours by now and a few more are yet to come. He wisely changed into some warm and dark clothing. John was in position on a building across from Carter's home. Like this, he had a good view of her windows to see what's happening inside and could still check the street for any possible threats.

Finch created a list of people which were imprisoned by Carter and were now living freely within New York. The few people on this list seemed rather uninteresting since the real bad guys won't get out of prison for a long time. None of them showed any suspicious activities within their digital tracks, which included their bank accounts and emails. Shaw was checking up on them right now after they took turns in the observation of Carter's apartment. He'd love to pay those guys a visit himself but trusted Shaw she would not leave without knowing everything they might be up to.

By the time he arrived the black SUV left already. Finch was still tracing the license plate. He already linked it to some shell companies across different countries but wasn't finished yet.

The daylight already began to dim as he thought about the discoveries he made during his observations. He smiled as he remembered Joss dancing around to some loud pop music while cleaning up the rooms, the need to laugh at this was almost overwhelming. But he couldn't resist taking a short recording of this with his smartphone, just as a little reminder.

Finch stepped by to take a walk with Bear and relax his muscles from sitting all day in front of the computers in the library. John has been thankful for the coffee Harold brought by and they were having a small conversation about the possible perpetrators. Elias wouldn't try another move at Carter since he knew this would have consequences. HR was still pissed at Carter for sniffing around and since they're forming a new alliance with the Russians, those were on the list, too. But their closest track was still the black SUV.

This way the days went by. Shaw took turns with him in watching Carter from the rooftop so he could go home at least for a couple of hours and get some sleep. Finch offered to set up some video surveillance but John feared to be too late if something happened.

The license plate has been backtracked to a person called Mike Stone who seemed to be a fake identity. The address was a room at a motel in New Jersey, which was empty by the time Shaw arrived.

John saw the black SUV a few times during his observation and once tried to get a look inside by walking up next to it, but they drove away before he could closer than ten feet. They must have recognized him from the walk with Joss the other day. After this incident those guys were more careful and probably used different cars because Reese couldn't spot them anymore.

Carter was back at work and thanks to the puppet camera and Lionel they could still watch her. Nevertheless Reese wasn't far away. Like this they could watch the reaction to the new order of wearing bulletproof vests all the time. Finch's ears got slightly red while Shaw and Reese just grinned at the cursing. John knew those vests they got at the police station were absolutely uncomfortable. But better this small inconvenience than being seriously hurt. He would remember this to get her a nice lightweight but still effective vest at her next birthday. 'What a present to a woman…' He thought by himself.

Shaw worked through the list Finch gave her but without luck. None of those were out for revenge. Most of them were imprisoned for minor crimes or were cooperating with law enforcement to reduce their sentence.

Today was the fourth day of observing, Shaw already joked about putting up a tent and a coffee maker. The light at Joss's living room became dark, she probably went to bed early. John knew she just finished a tough case at work about a poor kid who was at the wrong place the wrong time and got caught between some gang wars.

Finch visited him accompanied by Bear as he did the last days, but soon enough he was alone again at the rooftop. He liked those times at a stakeout, there was enough time to think about certain things or let your thoughts wander.

Lately he caught himself more and more often thinking about Joss and his feelings towards her. This day showed him why. It felt like she was one of the few people who truly understood who he was and didn't judge him for the things he did in the past but respected him for the man he became recently. He never talked to anyone about what happened with Jessica, never wanted to either. But being around Joss made him feel like not being the monster he always thought he was.

Still, he shouldn't get her involved too much into his life. The danger this would be too great, she has a kid she needs to take care of. Taylor should not grow up without his mother and Joss was a person the world couldn't afford to lose. However, the need to be with her became more and more overwhelming.

"So, what the hell do you think you're doing up here?" came a voice from behind him.

He closed his eyes. 'Damn it.' John thought, he would have recognized this voice anywhere. This could only go south no matter what he was answering now. But how the hell did she manage to sneak up to him?

"Enjoying the view?" That wasn't even a lie. He finally turned around. In front of him stood a very upset Jocelyn Carter, hands on her hips.

"John Reese, don't you dare making fun of me right now. Do you think I didn't know you guys have been spying on me the last few days?"

"I wouldn't call it spying…" John interrupted.

Joss ignored him. "Fusco has been following me constantly, acting like a damn mother hen. Finch and Bear walking up the street I live almost every day? Did you even hire some private investigators who drive around in a black SUV? And now I'm finding you standing up here like some stoic statue watching my apartment. What the hell is going on here?" Her voice got a little bit louder by each word, so she almost yelled at him by the end of her speech.

He just stared at her for a moment. She was even more beautiful when she was this furious. On one hand he didn't want to worry her by telling her the truth but on the other hand he didn't really have a choice. If he didn't answer her honestly now he could lose her trust forever.

"Well, we're trying to protect you." He finally admitted to her.

"Protect me from _what_?" she asked still angry.

"I don't know yet. We happened to know that somebody is trying to kill you but couldn't find out anything yet. This is why we were observing you." He stepped forwards to get closer to her. "Listen, Joss, I didn't want to worry you about this. All I wanted is to keep you safe."

"Damn it John, I can take care of myself. I get threatening letters every day, this is my daily business as a detective." She exclaimed but didn't step back.

"That's exactly why I haven't told you. Remember what we told each other a few days ago? None of us is alone anymore. I'm here for you, Joss, and always will be." He explained to her. "Please Joss, let us help you with this."

"You still could have told me all of this right at the beginning. But what about the black SUV?" She slowly calmed down but still demanded answers.

"It doesn't belong to us. They've already been following us while we were walking in the park. I tried to get a closer look at them but they've noticed me."

She looked at him. "So they were following me the whole time?" Suddenly her eyes became big. "Wait a second, what about Taylor? Oh my god, what if they organized this basketball training just as a distraction? I need to call him!" She already started getting her phone out of her pocket.

"Everything's all right, Joss, we were faster. That was Finch's idea, he arranged Taylor's trip to the training camp. He also hired some bodyguards to keep him safe over there." John quickly reassured her. "Maybe we should get somewhere else to talk."

"Yeah, I could really use a drink now. You're still not out of the woods, John, so you're the one who's paying for it." She told him as they slowly went towards the stairs.

In the meantime John was still wondering how she got up here without him noticing. He watched the street all the time and her front door didn't open. As if Joss could read his mind she said: "I understand too, how to use the backdoor, you know? It's not just there for you to sneak into my home."

Slowly they wandered down the street to Dempsey's Pub while John informed Carter about their recent discoveries. She couldn't provide him with any new names of possible perpetrators.

They just passed John's car when he saw a black SUV approaching them very fast…

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><p>Whoops, there it is, I wrote a cliffhanger :-)<p> 


	5. Trouble

I'm really sorry of letting you wait this long. Thank you so much for your wonderful reviews.

I realized it's much more difficult to me to write action than to write romance or humor. But I hope you enjoy it anyway :-)

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><p><strong>5 - Trou<strong>**ble**

Everything was happening like in slow-motion. He was moving only driven by his instincts. While pushing Joss down to get her and himself safe behind the car, he was grabbing for his gun which was securely hidden, as always, at his lower back.

Not a second too soon — the black SUV was close enough for the car passengers to start shooting at them with automatic weapons. Both of them heard the bullets crashing into the front and side of John's car, a dark grey five-door Mercedes coupe.

"Finch is going to kill me for crashing one of his cars — again." John said grimly.

Carter stared at him completely aghast. "Are you kidding me? We're under fire and you're worried about the damn car?"

"You don't know how Finch's personality can change if one of his precious cars is hurt." Joss was still shaking her head as she grabbed her weapon, too. They started defending themselves by shooting back at their attackers and trying to be covered by the car as much as possible. But they realized soon that they were outnumbered and had to save their ammo for more precise shots.

The SUV was now standing crossways on the street and the assailants were hiding behind it.

"They are professional assassins." John stated after he peered across the street. "But I can't make out if they belong to anyone we know." He got out his phone to call Finch. "Finch? Yeah, we got into some trouble here… Yes, we, she kinda found me." Joss rose her eyebrows at him but he gave her a short smile. "Those guys in the black SUV don't want to talk, they're more into shoot first, ask later. We need a safe house out of town. Send me over the address. Thanks."

"Why do we need to get out of town?" Carter asked after firing a single shot to keep the attackers from getting closer.

After he checked the message from Finch, John changed his magazine. "It's too dangerous within the city, there are too many places to hide for them. I would feel better with an open area around us." John explained to her and looked at her. His eyes grew big and a shout escaped him. "_JOSS_!"

One of their attackers sneaked past some of the parking cars and was now standing only a few feet away from them with a raised gun. His heart missed a few beats while he throw himself over to protect Joss with his own body, his life was nothing compared to hers. He heard the bullet starting its way towards them and felt the burning pain as it found a target. John couldn't suppress a gasp as he landed hard but his protective instinct kicked in and he managed to fire a shot at the other man.

He quickly glanced over Joss to make sure she was okay. She was lying flat with her head down so he took the chance and looked at his left shoulder grimacing. The bullet went right through next to his shoulder joint so at least he didn't have to get it out. But he couldn't really move his left arm anymore without feeling intense pain. It would start bleeding heavily in near future, so they better got out of there as soon as possible.

Carter was beginning to stand up and he put his good hand at her shoulder. "Get into the car at the passenger seat while I'm distracting them." He commanded while trying not to let her know he was hurt. 'Thank god I chose an automatic car this time.' He thought by himself.

Standing up he fired a few shots at the attackers to get into the car without being killed. To open the car door he had to stop shooting but no one showed up to fire back at him. He almost fell into the driving seat, his shoulder was aching really badly by now — even with a pain tolerance level as high as his.

"Keep your head down!" Carter checked him as he started the car, she definitely knew something was up. Worry filled her eyes as she realized he didn't use his left arm. John tried not to look at her directly, no need to burden her with his condition, otherwise she wouldn't stop blaming herself for this. She didn't say anything at the moment but he knew, as soon as they were out of immediate danger there was no way he could stop her from examining his injury.

Apparently the bad guys were waking up by the sound of the engine. The glass of the rear window shattered as the bullets flew towards them. John stepped on the gas and the tires were squealing as they started driving down the street. Checking the rearview mirror, John saw that the SUV was starting to catch up. "Damn, they're really attached to you." He murmured. The adrenaline was pumping through his veins and helped him to concentrate on getting them safe without focusing too much on his throbbing shoulder.

Their pursuers obviously didn't care on doing this the silent way. They were shooting at them while both cars drove rapidly through the city, John always trying to get rid of them and not letting them get too close.

"What's our destination?" Carter asked after shooting a few shots herself at the attackers. They just drove over the George Washington Bridge and were heading north.

"Finch owns a cabin near to the Harriman State Park. We equipped it to be a safe house in case of an emergency — for example being chased by a bunch of men with automatic weapons. _Argh!_" The car jumped over a ground wave and his injury clearly didn't like the vibrations.

"_John!_ How bad is it? Tell me the truth." Carter was really worried about him and he felt kinda funny about this, because this proved he meant something to her. Something he thought was never going to happen.

"Just a scratch, Carter, I'm fine. Can we talk about this later? I'd like to get us safe first." He breathed heavily by now and sweat formed on his forehead. He better shook them off fast.

They took a few sharp bends and almost crashed into a truck as they ran a red light. But apparently that did the trick. A few streets later he couldn't spot them anymore. He speeded up to increase the distance between them.

"Are they gone? I can't see them anymore." Carter turned around to check if they were safe.

John drove a little bit slower as he realized somebody was calling him. He managed to take his hands off the steering wheel to tap his earpiece. "Finch?"

"_Mr. Reese! Are you all right? There were reports about a car chase throughout the city. Am I correct to assume you're a part of this?"_

"Kind of, but unfortunately we're at the wrong end. I think I was able too shook them off but I don't know for how long, they looked like professionals."

They were still driving awfully fast through the streets to not give their attackers any chance to catch up to them.

"_Everything should be prepared at your destination. I will send you backup there as soon as possible. Ms. Shaw is alarmingly happy to gather her arsenal of weapons. Please contact me If you need any further assistance."_

"Thanks, Finch." John disconnected the call just to see Carter glancing at him.

"Why didn't you tell him you are hurt? We could use some medical supplies the way you look." She was angry with him but they had to discuss this later. Driving took a lot of his concentration and he wouldn't be able to hide his pain if they were having a long talk.

"Shaw will be meeting us at the safe house, she can take a look at it, if it makes you feel better." John told her. After this little banter she chose to not discuss this anymore but he could almost feel her watching over him and constantly checking his reactions. The worry in her face increased as she realized he was getting worse.

Fifteen minutes later they were on a small street and trees were surrounding them. Slowly, they began to relax, they didn't notice anyone following them since they left town.

John was driving slower now, because it was getting darker each minute and he didn't want to risk an accident by crashing into a wild animal. What he didn't want to admit to himself was the fact his reactions were getting a lot worse, the wound was bleeding freely now.

He checked the rearview mirror, as it happened so often in the last minutes, but this time he wasn't sure of what he saw. Some shadows were evolving out of the dark, less than half a mile behind them.

"Carter…" Reese had to concentrate on driving. "I hate to say this, but… we're not alone anymore."

Joss had been lost in thought for a while now and winced at his low voice. "What do you…?" Just then the front lights of the other car went bright and someone started shooting at them.

"Ah… Damn." John stated. "I was really hoping to hallucinate."

The black SUV sped up and was getting dangerously close to them. A game of cat and mouse began, both cars driving at high speed now. John knew they had no chance to shake them off this time. He wondered how they were able to track him and Carter. There was no was they were followed while driving out of the city. At the lonesome streets they were taking he would have definitely noticed them.

A bad assumption formed within his mind. "Carter! Throw away your phone! They must have tracked you down using the GPS signal. Get it out, _now_!"

She didn't question him but did immediately as he said. Carter knew, they had to stop their attackers otherwise they would be dead soon. Leaning out of the window she pointed her gun at the other car, but the magazine was empty after a two shots.

"Take mine." John said and leaned forward as much as possible. What he didn't think of was the amount of blood now visible for Joss, who gasped at the sight of the seat.

"Oh my god…" Glass shattered, a side window. She tolerated it for now, knowing she couldn't do anything about it right now, grabbed his weapon and shot a few times into the direction of the driver. The last one didn't miss. She smiled as the other car swerved and the shooting stopped. Unfortunately, both cars were at the same height. Her smile faded fast as she realized what was going to happen.

John tried to avoid the unavoidable but had no chance. The front of the black SUV bumped into the left back of the Mercedes and therefore caused it to flip over.

Terrible sounds of metal parts tearing apart and colliding with the street multiple times filled the air.

The SUV left the street towards some trees and crashed against one which caused an immediate stop, only a mass of black metal remained.

The car of John and Joss turned over a few times, landing hard on the street in process, and then slid totally bent a few hundred feet at the car roof. Finally it stopped and it was totally silent.

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><p>Yep, I know, this one didn't end much better than the last, but I wanted to keep up the tension.<p> 


	6. Consequences

Thank you very much for your reviews again! I hope you enjoy this chapter and aren't mad at me for getting poor John injured.

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><p><strong>6 - <strong>**Consequences**

_Library_

Finch was sitting at his desk in the Library, checking if he could find out more about the SUV which chased John. The only name he had was Mike Stone, which he knew was a fake identity.

He searched every possible database of the name, he even hacked into the FBI systems and searched possible pseudonyms of undercover agents. Just in case someone would have followed in Agent Donnelly's footsteps. But no luck.

An idea crossed his mind. What if…

About an hour later his eyes were growing big as he stared into the monitor. He connected the alias, which was used in several room bookings over the last few years, to flight tickets within the same period. This generated a list of possible suspects which he checked individually. At the end there was only one name left.

Harold realized he had to contact John immediately after he found out who was behind the attack. Dialing his number the call went straight to mailbox. That wasn't a good sign, he knew they had to drive through the woods, but this safe house was chosen because on the way and within the cabin was enough signal strength to be always reachable in case of an emergency.

This could mean his friends were in deep trouble, so he called a familiar number.

"Detective Fusco, I need a favor of you."

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><p><em>A street somewhere between the woods<em>

The silence was peaceful between the dark shadows of the trees but the view at the street was a totally different story. One car totally crashed against the trees and another one which didn't look much better was lying upside down but still on the street.

John was slowly beginning to gain consciousness and to sense his surroundings. The world seemed to be wrong somehow, but he couldn't pinpoint the reason for this. A few questions came to his mind, like in 'Where am I?' and 'How the hell did I get here?'. He tried to search through his clouded mind for the latest memories. There was a rooftop and a street, then some cars and… bullets? "Carter!" He gasped with a dry throat as the memories came rushing back and tried to convince his eyes of opening.

The first thing he noticed, as soon as the blurs in his visions were gone, was that the car seemed to lie at the wrong side. So that's what felt strange earlier. He turned his head to check the passenger seat and was relieved at the sight. Carter was hanging in the air secured by her seatbelt and as far as he could see she suffered no major injuries from the accident. A small tickle of blood was visible at her forehead which would give her some serious headache as soon as she wakes up.

"Carter!" he tried to say loudly but ended into a low whisper. He didn't dare to move yet so he tried it again. "Carter!" She began to stir. "Carter… wake up!" Finally her eyes were fluttering showing him she would be responsive soon. "… John?" she whispered quietly and with a sudden jolt she flashed her eyes open in shock. "John!" "Carter, it's okay… I'm right here." he whispered to calm her down.

Joss secured herself as good as possible before she opened the seatbelt, but she still landed uncomfortable within the glass fragments from the broken windshield. He almost smiled at the face she made while trying to roll over so she could sit upright. After that she looked at him for the first time since waking up. He tried to smile at her reassuringly as her eyes grew big and pure worry showed on her face.

Until then he tried not to think too much about his own injuries. He knew after the first shock settled down there would be plenty enough time to feel every bone of his body. The thought of keeping Joss safe kept him working, but after he knew she was okay so far, his mind was getting unfocused.

"John…" Carter whispered weakly. She seemed to realize the fact he was unbelted when the accident happened. The way he was laying uncomfortably at his back with his legs resting partly against the steering wheel proved it. His face was suspiciously pale and cuts from the broken windows covered his skin.

His body started telling him now exactly how it felt about getting tossed around inside the car. At first, everything hurt, so he needed to check each of his body parts individually while trying to move them.

His legs were a little bit stiff but otherwise okay, his arms was a different story. The right one was doing okay, some cuts at his hand but nothing that would be a danger. The left one didn't quite respond to his commands but it has been like that before the accident, too. He took a look at his shoulder to see if the bullet wound was still bleeding, which fortunately stopped in the meantime. So except for his unresponsive arm he didn't need to worry about bleeding to death anymore. He had some headache, but nothing serious, a simple concussion from getting tossed around.

The last thing to check was his torso. He tried to move it slightly to sit more upright and knew immediately something was terribly wrong. Breathing was difficult, most likely a few ribs were broken because he was dashed against the steering wheel while the car flipped. But he worried more about the stabbing pain at his left side. After taking a look at his side he grimaced. A chunk of metal was stuck deeply inside his flesh. It probably broke loose from the car's A-pillar as the car crashed and he was thrown into it.

However, they needed to get out of here as soon as possible. The safe house wasn't far away anymore the last time he checked and maybe someone was after them again, since their recent attackers crashed as well or they wouldn't still be alive.

"Carter… We need to get out of here." He stated weakly, not knowing if he would be able to even get out of the car without going unconscious. The pain started to increase every second.

Joss' gaze was locked to his side by then. "John, your side! We need to get your injuries covered first!"

"We won't be able to treat any injuries at all, if we don't get out of here now. Listen, the guys who attacked us probably weren't operating on their own, so others will be here soon enough." He had to stop talking and took in a deep breath. "The cabin isn't far from here, we can walk."

"I wouldn't be so sure about the last part if I look at you right now." She sighed. "Okay, first of all, let's try to get out of the car, and we'll take it from there. I'm going to get out first and help you out from the other side."

She forcefully pushed open the passenger door and crawled out of it cautiously. Her head started spinning as she stood and she needed to hold herself to the car for a couple of minutes. Looking at her surroundings she spotted the black SUV crashed against a tree. There was no way someone would be able to get out of this alive so they didn't need to worry about them anymore.

Carter was walking around their own car and pulled open the drivers door as much as possible. Reese wasn't making a move at the inside. "John?" She called him and bent over to check him out. His eyes were closed and she softly touched him. "John! You need to stay awake!" He opened his eyes and smiled weakly at her. "Sorry, Carter"

She took a closer look at the wound at his side. "Should we pull it out first?"

"No… It would start bleeding heavily and I already lost too much blood anyway." John prepared mentally for the next few minutes, which would be very painful.

"Are you ready?" She asked and John nodded carefully as a response. Joss grabbed around John's waist, trying not to hurt him further, and pulled him out of the car slowly.

He knew it would be painful, but at the moment his body moved he nearly passed out. It took all of his concentration to stay awake, although he couldn't suppress gasping. Finally they made it outside of the car and he was laying flat on the back, breathing shallow.

His phone! He had to let Finch know of their current location so he could get Shaw to protect Joss further. He reached into his pocket and brought out a totally damaged smartphone. The display was broken through the impact of the crash and he wouldn't be able to get it working again. Carter's phone was laying somewhere a few miles back on the street, probably in no good condition either.

Joss was now examining his injuries, he couldn't stop her anyway so he watched as she got more and more worried with each body part she checked.

"Can you move your left arm?" She asked him with a wavering voice.

"No" He admitted, it would be useless to lie to her.

"Okay, to sum it up: a gunshot wound to the shoulder, which impacts your movability, a piece of metal within your side and the way you breathe a few broken ribs, let alone the amount of cuts and bruises all over your body. John… why didn't you tell me earlier."

"This wouldn't have changed anything, Carter…" he reassured her "Need to get… going." With these word, he tried pushing himself up using his good arm. She helped him to lean against the car by steading his left, wounded side.

"Where is the cabin?" Carter asked as long as he was still responsive, which she bet would change after a few steps.

"Over there" he said and pointed into a direction through the woods. "It's about two miles away."

They were taking the first few steps and he almost fell after letting go of the supportive car. But after they pulled themselves together they kept going step by step. She saw the pain in his eyes and it was hurting her, too.

"Come on, we can get through this together. I won't let you die on my watch. There are some things we have to talk about." She promised him. He gave her a weak smile as response and continued concentrating on every step while clinging onto her.

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><p>Not too much romance yet, I admit. But there will be soon :-)<p>

I wanted to explain their current condition before moving on with the story.


	7. Safe?

I'm going to be on a five-day course next week, so I wanted to finish this chapter before heading off :)

Thank you very much for your reviews, they really keep me writing!

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><p><strong>7 - Safe?<strong>

He was breathing heavily, the sweat dropped from his forehead as they slowly made their way through the dark woods of the Harriman State Park. They were merely walking for half an hour and yet he was completely exhausted.

Joss noticed how fast the condition of John got worse. His shoulder wound began bleeding again slightly from moving around and though the piece of metal still inside him was stopping him from bleeding out, the pain of it shifting around within his side didn't help him to keep standing on his feet.

They needed to take a break soon, otherwise she would have to drag him to the cabin and she doubted she could move his muscular, tall body anywhere without his help. Her own head was pounding because of the concussion she got, but the thought of John needing her help made her ignore her own pain. She's been through worse to let it stop her.

Just as they passed a fallen tree, which was at a perfect height for John to sit without bending or stretching his body too much, she chose this was probably the best opportunity they'll get.

"Okay, John, let's get you over there, we're taking a short break before you pass out on me."

"I don't… pass out!" He ground out. However he let out a relieved sigh as he half sat, half leaned against the tree.

"Yeah, right, you would call highly concentrated with closed eyes." She muttered shaking her head. Why did men always have to act tough? Joss checked his wounds briefly. John's shirt was covered with dirt and blood. As far as she could tell the piece of metal which pierced his side didn't hurt any major organs or artery. She didn't doubt it would bleed heavily once it's pulled out and she secretly hoped somebody with medical training would be around if that happened.

"You're done?" A husky voice near to her asked. Without her noticing he had lowered his head next to her ear. She jumped at the sudden sound and turned her head around. Their faces were only inches away from each other. Both of them were caught in the moment and stared into each other's eyes not being able to get out a word.

John's eye moved between her eyes and her lips. Damn, she knew exactly what he wanted — she's been wanting this herself for a while now. Even totally exhausted, dirty, sweaty and hurt he was the most beautiful man she ever met. She saw how John leaned slightly forward and prepared to kiss him back as he suddenly let out a hiss of pain.

"John!" She looked at him with concern as he reached for his side with his right arm.

"I'm fine…" He mumbled. "Just stretched too much."

She was sad about the interruption of their magic moment but on the other hand she didn't wanted him to do this because he was hurt and the moment itself. She knew how she felt about him and wanted to do things right. Her heart would break if they got closer and later he would break up with her because he didn't feel the same way.

They agreed without words to continue their walk to the cabin. It was getting darker and they needed to get there before they wouldn't find the way anymore. Joss stabilized his hurt side again and they were heading towards the cabin without speaking about the situation before.

The only positive aspect of it was the fact, that it distracted him from thinking too much about the pain. He was angry at himself for letting his body interrupt the chance to kiss the woman he loved. But she couldn't love him, he was a monster and a vigilante and wouldn't fit well to the beautiful police detective who acted strictly by law.

And yet… he saw her change over the last year.

She wasn't the same person he met at the police station back when he was living on the streets and nearly drinking himself to death. Not that he didn't also admire her as she was back then. But she was also used to do everything how she was taught and couldn't get herself to break the rules. As himself, she evolved into a person who would do anything to prevent innocents from being hurt and that's what attracted him even more.

In silence they were walking until they reached a clearing with a small wooden cabin in the middle of it. It was looking like a nice place to hang out and Joss hoped they could get here someday together and enjoy a weekend together.

"We made it, just a few more steps and we can take care of your wounds and give you some painkillers." Joss was relieved to finally get him some medical help.

"No… painkillers." John stated.

She was ready to discuss this later as someone stepped out of the cabin and walked towards them. Her mind was already forming an escape plan - not a very good one - but she realized it was Shaw who was coming for them with a gun in her hand.

"What the hell did you guys do?" Shaw asked and after she got a closer look at John: "Whoa, you look like shit." He gave her an unnerved look, but she just shrugged and steadied his other side so they could walk towards the cabin.

Shaw opened the front door and the exhausted partners were welcomed by a warm room with a big corner couch in the middle. Joss noticed four more doors, a kitchen, two bedrooms and a bathroom she guessed.

John was pulling her towards the couch and she was happy they could finally rest. He groaned of pain as he lay down on his back. Joss sat herself near to his head and finally allowed herself to feel the worry she tried to suppress all the time. She stroked through his hair as Shaw inspected his wounds.

He didn't make another sound until Shaw touched the piece of metal. "Argh… get this stupid thing out… now!" John demanded with a low voice. Sam looked at Joss and handed him a towel: "You'll need to help me with this. As soon as I pull it out you have to press this towel at the wound to take care of the bleeding." Joss wasn't happy about it, she didn't want to hurt him but didn't want him to bleed out either, so she took the towel and sent John an 'I'm sorry' look. He nodded almost invisibly at her and his tired eyes said 'It's okay'.

"If the two of you finished your wordless communication we can start" Shaw interrupted them. She prepared some bandages and a sewing kit next to her so they could replace the towel quickly.

John and Shaw exchanged a glance and in agreement, Shaw pulled out the metal in a fast move. Joss tried not to look at the blood which immediately ran out of the, in her opinion too big, hole. Instead she pressed the towel at it just like she was told. John let out a hiss of pain which hit her right into the heart.

Fortunately Shaw had the sewing kit and some antiseptic ready in no time and signed Joss to take the towel away so she could quickly clean and stitch up the wound. Joss locked eyes with John to distract both of them from what's happening at his lower body. She saw him twitch at each stitch and it hurt her too.

A minute later only small drops of blood tickled out of the sewn up hole and Shaw put a bandage around his waist to protect it from getting infected.

After Shaw finished the examination of his other wounds she summed it up. "The wound at your side should heal up nicely, no major organs were hurt. You have some cracked ribs which will be uncomfortable but harmless. The bullet wound at your shoulder damaged some muscles which explains why you can't move your arm. Unfortunately it also got infected and you lost good amount of blood. But since you're a big boy it's not at a life threatening level. You already have some elevated temperature which will get worse soon, so I need you to rest and take some of these." She hold out a bunch of pills.

John knew he had no other chance as both women looked at him and weakly took the pills. Joss handed him a glass of water to wash them down.

"I'll have to clean the wound at your shoulder so it will heal more quickly." John nodded and closed his eyes as Shaw began working on him.

Joss watched him as he slowly began drifting to sleep and was relieved. She trusted Shaw and her judgment. The only thing that worried her was the infection, she realized during the walk his skin was warm, but thought it was due to the exhaustion.

She began feeling comfortable on the couch and leaned backwards. Soon enough her eyes began dropping and she couldn't fight the urge to sleep anymore, even though she shouldn't regarding she got a concussion. But the efforts of the last hours were beginning to exacting their toll.

By the time Shaw was done cleaning up the wounds she had to smile at the couple on the couch. Joss unintentionally shifted closer to John while she's been asleep. She suspected something between them for quite a while now but couldn't put a finger on it.

But the way she met them outside — Carter almost carrying a wounded John and the deep worry in her eyes — told her everything she needed to know. She just wondered why both of them wouldn't admit it to each other. They definitely cared for each other but seemed to be too scared to openly show it. Just because Shaw herself didn't felt much emotions didn't mean she couldn't sense them.

She decided to let them rest for a few hours before asking them what happened exactly. Driving to the cabin she saw the crash site and suspected they would need some first aid in the cabin. She was just speaking with Finch over the phone — who was worried sick after she told him about the accident — as they came in sight. Finch wanted to tell her something but she disconnected the call and got out of the cabin to help them inside.

Finch would want an update soon, but she chose to get the information herself first. So she regularly checked the perimeter for any upcoming danger and got some food ready for herself and the sleeping beauties.

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><p>To be honest, I didn't expect the story get this long as I started writing it :O<p>

The next update will take some more time, just to warn you right ahead!

Please drop a review if you like it!


	8. Worries

Yes, I'm still alive :-)

—

**8 - Worries**

The first thing he realized was a scent, a scent he would recognize in any state he was in. The smell of Joss Carter's hair was something which made him feel happy and as safe as he could possibly be.

He tried to open his eyes but felt so week it became an almost impossible. Only the thought of Joss kept him from getting asleep again. John wanted to check if she was really with him or if it's been just a dream of his own desire.

Slowly his eyes began to flutter and he thankfully realized someone lightened two candles instead of turning on the ceiling light, so his eyes were saved. As he tried to move his head his whole body ached and protested, which reminded him roughly of the earlier events. Still, the pain wasn't as worse as he expected it to be. He remembered taking some pills, Shaw must've mixed some painkillers between them. Otherwise he would have rejected them anyway. The thought of not being able to control his own mind scared him more then everything else.

But he was glad at least for now of the fact he took them, even if it's been unintended. It made it possible for him to move at least as much to get Joss in sight.

She was laying with her head on a pillow next to him. Close enough for him to catch her smell but with enough distance not to touch his injured shoulder by accident. Her hair was laid across the fabric of the couch and she was sleeping deeply. The rhythmic breathing calmed him down and except for a small cut on her forehead she seemed fine which eased him even more.

John felt warm and realized the sweat on his body before but thought it would be because of the pain of his injuries, but the heat radiated from the wound at his shoulder. That's something he experienced before and it hasn't been pleasant. An infected wound would otherwise explain why he was so weak after the accident.

Joss chose just this moment to start stirring and her eyes began to flutter. John smiled at her, he enjoyed watching her fight the sleep. Her big brown eyes were looking at him sleepily now, blinked a few times and grew big.

"John! You're awake! How do you feel?" She sat up and reached for her head after she moved. "Ow."

"Maybe I should rather ask you. How are you?" He asked her with a raspy voice, immediately missing the proximity. A frown of worry appeared on his forehead. Shaw should've given her some painkillers to ease the pain.

"Nothing that a little rest and a tylenol won't fix." She slid her hand carefully above his forehead. "You still feel hot."

His lips curled in a smile. "Thank you for the compliment, Detective."

Joss sighed and chose to ignore his comment. "What I meant is: You still got fever. How long did we sleep anyway?"

"Two hours" Both of them were startled by the sudden voice behind them. Shaw turned on the light and walked around the couch with two plates of pizza on them. She placed both of them onto the table in front of the couch. "I got us some food warmed up. The frozen pizza seemed to be a good choice."

"That's great, I feel like I didn't eat anything for days." Joss smiled and tried to sit up, immediately regretting it and holding her head.

"And I got you some painkillers." Sam hold out her hand with two pills on it.

Joss gratefully took them and swallowed them with some water. Shaw must've put the glasses on the table while both of them were asleep.

In the meantime John closed his eyes already and was just before falling asleep again. "John, come on, you need to eat and drink something." Joss gently stroked over his cheek. "Don't wanna…" John's voice was slurred and he sounded like a little kid which made her smile. Joss took a slice of the pizza and waved it in front of him. One of his eyes opened up and focused at the pizza.

He sighed. John knew he should eat something to provide some energy to his body. So he took a bite of the piece Joss held out in front of him.

Like this the three of them ate everything - Shaw a whole pizza while Joss and John shared the other one. After they were done the two women put away the dishes.

Joss and Shaw chose to continue their talk in the kitchen, so John could rest on the couch. "Okay, now spill. What happened to you? I saw the result of your little car crash on the street but I wondered how they found you after you shook them off back in the city."

Obviously Finch told her about the recent events, Joss thought. "I don't know exactly, but John suspected them to be tracing our mobile phone signals. But this would mean they somehow got access to the database of the providers."

"So, either they got a hacker on their team or … Did you have problems with any authorities lately?" Shaw raised an eyebrow at her.

"No, not that I'm aware of." Joss responded sincerely. "But who would be so powerful to hire a complete team of professionals to get me killed?"

"I don't know, the last information I got from Finch is that he got a lead on someone called 'Mike Stone'. Does this name ring any bells?"

"No, I don't remember this name from any case. How did he get it?"

"Seems like he linked it to the car which followed you. However, I'll have to call him to update him about your condition." Shaw shrugged and dialed Finch's number on her phone. She put him on speaker so Carter could listen as well.

"_Miss Shaw! Why didn't you call me earlier? What happened?"_

Both women could hear the deep worry in his voice. Although he didn't show emotions very often, he really cared for his friends. "Finch, it's good to hear you, too. Stay calm, the two of them found their way to the cabin by themselves. They're okay for now but Reese might need a surgery when we get back. I hope you got a good fake identity for hospital."

They could hear him gasp. _"What happened?"_

Joss answered first. "Harold, they probably traced us with our cell signals. John was shot during the attack in front of my house. He lost a lot of blood during the drive and in the end they rammed us so our car flipped over which wasn't helping his condition any further. Next to another wound and a few broken ribs his gunshot wound got infected, but Shaw already treated his injuries. Could you find out anything about the men who were after us?"

"_It's good to hear your voice, Detective. I'm not sure yet, I've put Detective Fusco on a lead and currently wait for more information. But based on the instruments they used to find you I would assume I'm not completely wrong. Have you been in any complications with other agencies lately? Maybe work related?"_

The women looked at each other. "Shaw said the same thing, but I'm not aware of any agency which would want to kill me, at least not since Mark Snow's and Agent Donnelly's death."

"_Well, your partner is currently searching through the system of the police department and will also use his other connections to hopefully gather useful information. In the meantime you have to be careful. Miss Shaw, is Mr. Reese safe for transport? Even the immediate attackers are no longer a threat to you, there probably will be others to take over the job."_

"He's currently asleep and I don't want to wake him up, he needs every rest he can get to fight the infection amongst his other injuries. But we'll be out of here as soon as possible." Shaw assured him.

"_Please call me as soon as anything about his condition changes or if you need anything."_

"We will, please give us an update if you know who's after me." Joss replied. "Thank you, Finch."

"_Thank you, Detective, for taking care of John. Oh, one more thing: We found another alias of the man behind the attacks: Michael Sanders. I couldn't find anything about this name as well but maybe you know something about him."_

"I'm sorry Finch, I don't know this name either. I'll talk to John about it as soon as he wakes up."

"_Please be careful, all of you.__"_ With those last words the call was disconnected.

"Sam, shouldn't the medicine you gave John show any signs of success by now? He still feels pretty hot." Joss was still worried about him and couldn't fight the urge to ask Shaw about his condition because she would answer her truthfully.

"It's a good sign he woke up this early, so I wouldn't worry about it too much. The fever will go down but he still needs a lot of rest." Shaw explained. "I'm going to take a walk around the house to check if it's still quiet out there. You can put a cool cloth on Reese's forehead if you want. It will help to bring down the fever more quickly so we can get out of here soon." With those words she grabbed her gear and disappeared through the door.

Joss acted on Shaw's advice and sat down on the couch after putting a cooling cloth on John's forehead. Her own headache got better with the help of the painkillers, so she started to think about all the things that happened this day.

John saved her life, again. And he got hurt in process, again.

She had to admit, if he hadn't thrown himself over her she wouldn't have noticed the attacker sneaking up to them. Joss knew it's John daily business, protecting people. But she did notice the deep worry in his eyes after the accident. She, of all people, should know how suddenly a life could be over. So why should she let angsts and other unimportant things get between her and what she wanted most. Everyone should deserve a happy life and being loved by someone.

She could hardly think of any other man who would be able to have the same effect on her as John Reese. It's not just his good looks - which wasn't a bad thing either of course - but also his whole attitude. He could make her laugh and be happy but also angry and annoyed but yet she would still love him.

She suddenly sat straight. Love him? She thought about all those times they spoke or got near to each other. Every single time she worried sick about him, laughed with him and got mad at him for not playing by the rules her heart beat faster than usual. Her body admitted something a long time ago but her brain was still denying it, at least until now.

With a near-death experience just a few hours ago and the worry about his health she finally let her heart decide. Yes, she's been loving him for a very long time now. It might not have been love on first sight, but a slowly, steadily growing love that was now strong enough to break through the surface of their friendship.

While she was lost in thought John stirred in the sleep and opened his eyes. His grown, as the light was too bright for his eyes, startled her and she quickly turned the light off.

"Hey there, sleepyhead. You're awake again." She softly greeted him.

He must've decided to keep his eyes closed because he answered without opening them. "Hey there yourself. What did I miss?"

"Just a deeply worried Finch. But I think I could calm him down a little bit. He still wants us to get out of here as soon as possible. Regarding the fever you have, I think it's best if we can get you to a hospital in near future."

"What? No, I don't need a hospital. A hot shower, some rest and I'll be as good as new. Besides, the threat still remains and I won't leave you alone with that." He stated firmly.

"John, I really appreciate your worry about me, but can you even move your arm again?"

"Yes."

"I meant the left one."

"Doesn't care, I can still use a gun with the right one." He finally opened his eyes and turned so he looked right at her. His blue eyes were full of determination, worry for her and something else she never thought she would see on him. Fear. Joss realized two very important things this moment.

John Reese was scared about loosing her which meant he really felt something for her.

"Okay, since I can't change your mind about this I won't put you straight into hospital." She leaned herself closer to him so their faces were only a few inches apart. "But as soon as the danger is over you will go to hospital whether you want or not. Even if this means I have to drag you into surgery myself."

His face visibly relaxed and his beautiful eyes became the sparkle she loved so much as a smile played upon his lips. "You wanna be my nurse?"

John surely didn't expect her next words as she played along. "I'd love to take care of you, John. I promise you wouldn't regret it." He watched her biting her lips and realized her eyes wandered down to his own lips.

"Joss…" was this really his voice? It sounded too raspy for him to recognize it. Usually he was the one who flirted, so this was new to him.

Her smell and the proximity was too much, he couldn't resist her anymore. He overcame the short distance between them and their lips finally met. Gently and careful at the beginning but soon their kiss became more passionate until the point where both of them needed oxygen.

"You can't even imagine how long I've been wanting to do this." John managed to use his good arm and caressed her face with his hand. Both of them were staring into each others eyes. He knew he was grinning like a stupid, lovesick teenage boy but couldn't suppress it.

"Oh, I think we're pretty even on this." Joss replied with a big smile plastered on her face.

—

I hope you liked it!

I'm always happy about reviews :-)


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